A Sister's Love
by MinervaDeannaBond
Summary: While out on the frozen fjord, Elsa realizes the depth of her sister's love through Anna's ultimate sacrifice. In Anna's rebirth, Elsa finds the love she needs to bring Arendelle back to life. Through her sister's love, she lets it all go at last.


Here it is, my first-ever _Frozen _fanfic! I'm sure a lot of us were wondering what Elsa was thinking while she was out on the frozen fjord, and this story attempts to answer that question. Above all, I wanted to show the deep love the sisters had for each other, and how it was the love of both of them that saved not only Arendelle, but each other.

Dedicated to my dear friend HAFanForever, whose _Frozen _stories and analyses were a huge inspiration for this tale. Love you, girl!

* * *

"Elsa!"

I didn't think it was possible for anyone or anything to penetrate the blizzard. The wind was howling and the snow was so thick you could've cut it with a sword. But that voice - _his _voice, the one that ironically sent ice sliding down my spine - pierced my ears over the wind, and he himself appeared through the snow like a phantom from my worst nightmares.

Any other time, I would have found that funny. _Phantom _seemed like the perfect word to describe Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. From the second he appeared at my coronation, flirting with my sister, sweeping her off her feet, and acting like the picture of the perfect prince, I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him. _What does he want? _I wondered, a question that only roared louder in my mind when he proposed to Anna the very same night. What man does that? No man with sincere intentions, that's for sure. Hans may have _seemed _sincere, but years of hiding my own powers had taught me to recognize when someone was concealing something. Hans was hiding some kind of secret, and what it was, I didn't know. All I _did _know was that I didn't want him with my sister. He would've broken Anna's heart.

_No. That was you._

The thought still hurts. I shut Anna out all those years, trying my hardest to protect her, and it was all for nothing. Anna tried to bring me back and repair our bond, and I threw it in her face. I may have hurt her physically as well; heaven only knows what happened when I lost control in my ice palace. What did I do? Instead of letting her in, I slammed the door again. And now here I am, trying to run away from my problems.

_From your problems, or from your sister?_

I don't know. It doesn't make any sense even to me. Who runs away from the only person who loves her?

_You, that's who._

"You can't run from this!"

Hans's next words freeze me. He's right. I can't run, not from the trouble I've caused and not from Anna. But it's not going to stop me from running anyway. I have to protect Anna, and the only way to do that is to get as far away from her as possible. Finally, I turn around and face the one person that I can't trust. In this case, though, I have to trust him. He's the only one who can take care of Anna. As I stare Hans in the eye, it's all I can do to hold back my tears. "Just take care of my sister!"

Hans's green eyes widen and his next words are filled with disbelief. "Your sister?" They come out almost as a laugh. "She returned from the mountain weak and cold! She said that you froze her heart!"

_Wham. _It's almost like I've been hit by my own icy blast - the same one that I now realize hit my sister in the heart. "No!" _What have I done?_

"I tried to save her, but it was too late." _What? He can't be saying... _"Her skin was ice. Her hair turned white." I stare at him in disbelief, praying for a miracle, any miracle, that he'll say Anna is all right... and then he delivers the blow. "Your sister is _dead _because of you!"

My knees begin to shake. My insides are freezing, and not because of the cold. "No!" I turn away from Hans, even now trying to conceal the tears that I can no longer hold back. I lost control of my powers, and now I'm losing control of my deepest emotions. Anna... my sister is gone! The pain is so horrible that I hear myself let out an anguished cry, just before my knees give out entirely and I fall to the ice. I put my head in my hands and sob, and the storm... stops. The wind was my fear. The silence is my grief. The snow, as much a part of me as the kingdom it covers, is mourning for Anna too.

_Anna... no! _The tears come faster as the grief takes hold and a shocking realization sets in. _I have no one. _Mama and Papa are gone, lost forever in a summer squall, although I shut them out long before that. I was so afraid of hurting them that I refused to let them touch me for years. I didn't even hug them one last time before they died. For years after Mama and Papa's deaths, I only had Anna. She was my only family, the only one who cared about me and _loved _me. And now that she's gone, there's no way I can tell her how much I love her. How sorry I am for shutting her out. For not building a snowman with her.

_You got your wish, Elsa. Now you really are alone. How does it feel?_

_Awful, _I shoot back to the demon that's been whispering in my ear for years. _I don't want to be alone anymore. I'd rather die than be alone!_

Suddenly, I hear the sound of metal sliding through metal. The sound of a sword being unsheathed. _Hans, _I realize. He's the only one out on the ice with me, the only one who could possibly be carrying a sword. It now dawns on me that he set this whole thing up, that he plotted all along to kill me and take over Arendelle, but what does it matter now? Anna is gone and the kingdom is frozen because of me... and I don't want to live without my sister. _How funny it all worked out this way. _As I cradle my head in my hands, I pray for it to be quick. _Kill me quickly, Hans. Please. I just want to die._

I hear his footsteps behind me. There's a whooshing sound as his sword swings through the air. I brace myself, waiting for the pain.

"NO!"

A voice screaming no. Metal shattering into pieces. Some kind of force shaking the ground and booming through the air. A breath exhaling into the still winter air... a dying breath. _What is going on? I should be dead! _Bewildered, I turn around. Instead of seeing Hans, I see blue-tinted ice. Two feet. A swirling dress. A hand raised high in the air to block a blow. Two braids... "ANNA!"

I don't even recognize my own voice as it explodes out of my mouth. It sounds like the cry of a wounded animal. The cry of someone who's lost everything she holds dear. The cry of someone who's been lied to. _Hans lied to me! Anna was alive! _My heart twists even further as I realize that she knew what Hans's plans were and who he really was. _Oh, Anna... _He broke her heart, but that didn't stop her from running out here to find me. As I jump to my knees and run over to my sister, I see Hans nearby, lying unconscious in the snow, his sword in pieces beside him. Anna sacrificed her life so I could live. _Why? Anna, after all I did... why? It shouldn't have been you. It should've been me! Oh, Anna..._

"Oh, Anna," I echo my thoughts out loud. My hands fly to my mouth when I see my sister's face, pleading as she holds her arm out to stop Hans. "No! No, please, no..." _God, please! Please bring her back to me! _I pray as I cradle Anna's face in my hands. All of a sudden, it hits me that this is the first time in thirteen years that I've touched my sister. I never touched her because I was afraid of freezing her, and it's ironic now that she _is _frozen that I can finally touch her without... without _fear. _

_Fear will be your enemy._

Fear did this to me. To _us. _Anna could have helped me if I hadn't been so afraid, and now she's gone. The grief that overcomes me now is ten times worse, because I can see for myself the damage I've done. I've frozen Anna - and love - out forever. _I was loved all along, and now I'll never be loved again. _My breath is coming more quickly and tears are breaking free, and I don't want to conceal anymore. I want to _feel. _The ice that covered my heart shatters as I let my pain go. I throw my arms around Anna and sob uncontrollably into her shoulder, wishing with all my heart that I could feel her warmth one more time.

I hear footsteps behind me again. It can't be Hans; these footsteps are too heavy. It has to be the mountain man that was with Anna when... the tears flow harder at this and intensify when I hear another voice, this time from before me. "Anna?"

_Olaf. _He sounds so heartbroken, and no wonder. I created Olaf because I couldn't hold something back. Up in the cold, thin air of the North Mountain, I was finally free to express my love for the sister I'd left behind. I remembered the first time I'd made Olaf, back when Anna and I were just little girls. What I'd said then in giving him a voice, "I like warm hugs," wasn't just for him. It was for me. When we were kids, nothing could warm my heart more than a hug from my little sister. When I created Olaf for the second time, I wanted a warm hug from Anna more than anything, and seeing Olaf's funny face again was a way of seeing my sister. He was created out of love, and it was that love that brought him to life. _Why can't love bring Anna back now? _The thought only makes me weep even harder. _Sometimes love just isn't enough._

_God, please... please bring her back. Forgive me. Please... let me build a snowman with her._

Strange. Something feels warm. But how can that be? Ice is _not _warm. Then I hear a soft sigh... and the shoulders I'm hugging shift. _What? _I look up and through my tears, I see the smiling face of my sister. She's alive! "Anna!" Joy floods over me so much that I forget my old rule about no one touching me. I jump to my feet and wrap my arms around Anna so tightly, it's a miracle that she can still breathe. She's so warm, even after being frozen, and I know it's because of her love. I hold on to her with all my might. I don't ever want to let her go, and it's pretty obvious by the strength of her hug that she doesn't want to let me go either. Fine by me. "Oh, Elsa," she whispers, hugging me even tighter.

As much as I hate to do it, I break our hug, but keep one hand clasped with hers. I have to look her in the eyes and make sure she's all right. Standing before me is the Anna I know and love. Even with the physical changes that have made her a woman, she is still the same sweet, rosy-cheeked, starry-eyed girl she's always been. But there is one difference. The white streak in her hair, the result of the accident that I caused thirteen years ago, is gone. _Thank you, God, _I pray gratefully. I know this is a gift: our bond restored. Anna is whole again. My precious sister, alive and well... but how?

Suddenly, it hits me. Her sacrifice must have been enough to bring her back to life. "You sacrificed yourself for me?" I ask, still stunned by the very idea. I touch Anna's cheek, absorbing the warmth, and then clasp her hands again.

Anna simply smiles, her eyes glowing. "I love you."

I want to weep again at those words. They're the words I've wanted to hear for so long, the words I've never said myself. I'm so relieved to hear them again, and I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for yet another gift. I know that from now on, I'll be able to know and hear just how much Anna loves me. And she'll know how much I love her.

The impact of these words are not lost on Olaf, either. He lets out a gasp, so happy that he lifts his entire head off his shoulders. "An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart!" he says, beaming at us both.

_True love. _Anna gave her life for me because she loves me, and that love brought her back to life. It makes sense to me. Jesus gave his life for us, and he rose again. There's no greater love than to give your life for another. "Love will thaw..." _And it can thaw my kingdom. I love my people. I _can _bring summer back to Arendelle! _"Love! Of course!" I say, holding my arms out. _I can do this after all!_

"Elsa?" Anna asks curiously, wondering what I'm about to do.

_Oh, Anna, you just wait and see! _"Love!" I concentrate on Anna, Olaf, all of Arendelle, even on the memories of Mama and Papa... and let it go. Anna's delighted gasp in the next instant tells me that it's working. The snow begins to float back up to the sky, and the ice below us begins to melt and crack. I raise a ship and bring us up to dryness and safety as the fjord thaws, revealing crystal-blue waters once again. I look out to Arendelle and the gray stone of the houses and the castle are visible again, as are green grass and colorful flowers. The chill in the air is chased away by summer warmth, and the white winter sky is transformed into a beautiful blue, with sunshine everywhere. I raise the snow and ice into the sky until it takes the shape of a giant snowflake, and as it forms, I clasp my hands together. When I bring them apart again, the snowflake vanishes. Summer is back. Arendelle is alive once more. _I did it!_

An arm comes around me and my thoughts are echoed back in my sister's warm voice. "I knew you could do it," she says, holding me in a one-armed hug.

Olaf seems to agree. "Hands down, this is the best day of my life!" he exclaims - ironic, since I notice he is starting to melt. So does he, judging by his next words. "And quite possibly the last."

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that Anna looks distressed. I just chuckle. Now that I'm pretty sure I know the key to controlling my powers, I can bring Olaf back to life. I love that little snowman just as much as Anna, and it's love that will bring him back to life. "Oh, Olaf! Hang on, little guy," I assure him, quickly swirling my hand and sending a flurry of sparkling snow to surround him. In no time, he is reassembled, and when I flex my fingers one more time, a cloud appears over his head, complete with falling snow. _Now you can stay, _I think to myself, tickled just thinking it.

Olaf's even more tickled than I am, though. He jumps up and down with excitement, rejoicing over his little cloud. "My own personal flurry!" he laughs, sending me a grateful smile as his thanks.

But there's no time to reciprocate. A groan from nearby brings all of our heads around to a corner of the ship. There's Hans, slowly getting to his feet and rearranging his jaw. Anna's friend - _I have got to learn his name _\- knits his eyebrows and takes a step forward. I don't have to read minds to know he's thinking _let me at him. _But Anna throws out an arm to stop him, saying "Ah-ah-ah!" He halts and Anna walks toward Hans, hands clasped in front of her. It's all I can do not to go after her. Whatever he did to her, I don't want it happening again. Strangely, though, Anna doesn't look afraid at all. She looks _mad. Anna, what are you doing?_

Hans adjusts his jaw one last time and starts when he sees Anna before him. Clearly, he wasn't expecting this. He probably thought Anna was dead back in Arendelle, and I feel my fists clench when I think that he quite possibly left her to die. I feel my hands grow cold again, but I hold it back. If I had truly lost control of my powers, of _myself, _I might have killed Hans for what he did. Now, though, I don't feel vengeful. I feel sorry for him. I've been blessed enough to know love, and I don't think he _ever_ will. _Forgive him. He knows not what he does._

"Anna?" Hans says, completely flabbergasted. "But... she froze your heart!"

"The only frozen heart around here is _yours_," Anna shoots back at him. She turns around, and just when I think she's going to walk back to us, she pauses. I jump in the next instant as Anna, the sister who has never raised her hand to anyone in her life, grabs Hans by the collar and punches him dead in the middle of his face. Hans lets out a strangled yell and stumbles backward from the force of the blow - right over the edge of the ship, where he topples into the water with an enormous splash. I want nothing more than to laugh and let out a cheer, but a sound from the shore tells me I don't have to. The visiting dignitaries are clapping and cheering and whooping it up from the castle balcony. They must have been deceived by Hans as well, and when they saw what happened out on the fjord, they also saw the truth.

_They don't think I'm a monster. They're cheering for Anna _and_ for me. _I look up to the sky and breathe another prayer of thanks. _Everything will be all right._

_You'll be fine, Elsa._

In that instant, Papa's voice echoes in my ear and warmth surrounds me, as though he and Mama are giving me a hug. _Thank you, Papa. I hope I've made you and Mama proud. _I feel their presence, and I want to feel my sister's, too – a group hug at last. When Anna turns back to me, I hold out my arms. I'm not afraid to hug her anymore. She breaks into the world's biggest smile and runs into my arms, squeezing me hard.

It's a bone-breaking hug, but I'm glad it is. It's thirteen years of love poured into one embrace. The love of the sister who never stopped loving me, whose love saved her life and mine – and all of Arendelle. Our hearts aren't frozen anymore. The past is in the past. We're sisters for the first time in forever, and Anna is the one thing I'm never going to let go.


End file.
